Seattle-based Nordstrom opens its CF Sherway Gardens location to the public today, and we toured and photographed the new 140,000 square foot space ahead of its grand opening. The new store reflects the architectural style of Nordstrom’s other Canadian stores, featuring ample natural light, modern interiors, and fashions for women, men, children, and for the home.

CF Sherway is the second Nordstrom store in Canada to be built from the ground up — all other stores, except for the Yorkdale store, were carved out of former Sears Canada locations. CF Sherway’s Nordstrom anchors a new south wing in the mall, which we toured and profiled last month. Building Nordstrom involved demolishing a 48,000 square foot retail building that housed Sporting Life, which relocated in the mall.

(At the opening gala on Wednesday, September 14)

(Models at the opening gala. Photo: Ritchie Po)

The CF Sherway Nordstrom is also smaller than its other two Toronto locations — the CF Toronto Eaton Centre store is about 220,000 square feet and the Yorkdale store is almost 200,000 square feet.

The two-level CF Sherway store features a ground floor with departments for shoes, beauty, accessories and menswear, and a second floor with fashions for women, children and for the home. There's also a Bazille restaurant upstairs, with coffee concept Ebar anchoring the mall entrance on the ground floor.

Many of Nordstrom’s typical departments are included in the new CF Sherway Gardens store. Women’s fashions range from the conservative to the emerging brands found in its ‘Via C’ department — and there are thousands of pairs of shoes, which Nordstrom is particularly known for. Men’s fashions range from the casual to dressy, and there’s a children’s department that includes a playhouse and pinball machine.

The store also features a ‘Nordstrom at Home’ department — the second in Canada. Nordstrom’s CF Toronto Eaton Centre will be the second to feature such a department when it’s unveiled next month.

CF Sherway Garden’s Nordstrom is also the first in the entire company to feature a KBeauty section, which includes a number of popular Korean brands.

The store stocks a considerable number of contemporary brands, as well as a few luxury brands, such as Canali suits for men. Overall, the store is less luxury brand-heavy when compared to Nordstrom's CF Toronto Eaton Centre and Yorkdale units. The company's Vancouver flagship features the most extensive luxury offerings of any Nordstrom store in the country, helping make it the top performer in the entire Nordstrom chain.

(A first -- korean beauty, which will be rolled-out into other nordstrom stores in Canada and the US)

(CF Sherway is the first Nordstrom store in Canada to feature the 'nordstrom at home' department. CF Toronto Eaton Centre will get a department next month)

Single-surface flooring spans much of Nordstrom’s CF Sherway store, allowing departments to change their size and configuration by adding new carpeting and moving displays and shelving. The purpose-built store features ample natural light from exterior facing windows, as well as attractive interior lighting that highlights the store’s warm wood ceilings in various departments. The store also houses one of Nordstrom’s trademark escalator atriums that acts as a centrepiece to both of the store’s two retail levels.

Nordstrom is the third major anchor to be added to CF Sherway Gardens, joining a large Saks Fifth Avenue location as well as a fully renovated Hudson's Bay department store. CF Sherway Gardens is considered to be one of Canada's top malls in terms of productivity -- last year's Retail Council of Canada Shopping Centre Study ranked it as the country's 11th most productive centre with sales just shy of $1,000 per square foot annually. Retail Council of Canada will be releasing its 2017 Canadian Shopping Centre study this fall, and there are opportunities to advertise/sponsor it -- for more information, contact Craig Patterson at: cpatterson@retailcouncil.org.

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